Family

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

The Good and The Bad

Romans 5:3-5 "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Today was a great day for Wayne. He looks amazing for just having brain surgery. He was quick to answer the neurosurgeon's questions, such as what is the date, your name, what is this? At one point when struggling to find the words, he broke out with the word anesthesiologist! The nurses and doctors seem very pleased with his progress. He worked with a speech therapist today and she said he did amazing. He far exceeded where most patients are one day post-op. He was reading sentences, could name things and match them to pictures, could say his abc's, say the months, and was even able to do a simple math problem. Wayne had a few visitors today. His mom, Connie, was able to come downtown and see him. That meant a lot to both of them. Thank you to Pastor Rob for being the taxi! Pastor Rob ministered to Wayne with scripture and some of his lame jokes. After that, Pete Oakley stopped by during his lunch break. He also read some scripture to Wayne, specifically Psalms 139. I know Wayne enjoyed the time with friends, he was just frustrated when he couldn't talk or communicate what he was thinking. On a positive note, all day when he was getting frustrated or couldn't find a word, he would just chuckle at himself. It was refreshing to hear him laugh and try to stay positive, even though it is frustrating. We also had a good laugh in the morning. I told him the nurse had told me the night before that he wouldn't remember anything we talked about during that time. So, I told Wayne last night he promised to buy me a new ring when he gets out of the hospital. We had a good laugh over that since it has been a running joke for some years. Dr. Chandler said that the MRI from this morning shows that they got 99% of the tumor! He is super thrilled with the results, which means I am super excited. He did warn Wayne that he may see some set backs the next day or so due to swelling. The swelling can cause delays in the progress he is making, and might even make his symptoms temporarily appear worse for a day or so.That brings us to the "bad" part of today. We started seeing some setbacks tonight. Wayne was very agitated/frustrated when he was trying to talk to me. Some of the words he was able to say earlier today were hard for him to say tonight, he even struggled to find them. I feel helpless and I just try to be there for him. It is so hard though on both of us. I don't know what he wants or what I can do to help him since he can't communicate it, and he can't tell me what would help him, which frustrates him. God has been reminding me though tonight that each trial brings stronger character and character produces hope. It also is teaching me to have further dependence on Him for strength. I can't do this on my own, I need His strength. Isaiah 40:29-31 "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak, even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in The Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.".A picture from before surgery and a picture this morning after surgery (bottom one)29

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About Me

I am a daughter of the King, wife to my amazing husband Wayne since 1999, and mom to 6 beautiful little girls and 2 handsome sons. On February 11, 2015, Wayne had a grand mal seizure and we discovered that he had a brain tumor. After a biopsy, we found out that it was cancerous tumor. He had brain surgery in March to remove the tumor. He was in inpatient rehabilitation for two weeks, underwent six weeks of chemo and radiation, and is currently doing six more cycles of chemo. This is our story, really God's story. We want to remember all the wonderful things God has done and will continue to do each day of our life as we walk this journey.